A Cock Move
by Fae 206
Summary: Before Ginger's eggs were hatched, Rocky died in protecting their offspring. However, when Ginger is accidentally brought to the circus she finds a rooster looking very much like her deceased mate without any of his memories. What happened and could Rocky not have been eaten by a fox?
1. Chapter 1

**AN: **Short introductory chapter but I hope you like it. I've never written for this particular movie before, I'm quite excited to be honest 😊 Hope you enjoy.

**A Cock Move**

**Chapter One**

It had happened on a stormy night as many stories that people told about emotional experiences did. Ginger had always felt that if they left the farm then they would be able to have a future where there wasn't the dangers that the farmer had exposed them to. How could she have known about the other predators other than humans. She had experience with dogs of course but badgers and foxes were unknown dangers and it was those dangers that had threatened her own fertilized eggs.

She was getting on in her life and having found a happy home several months ago, had mated with her American partner, the wild rooster that had run away from the circus. That was supposed to be the happy life that she had dreamed of as she sat on the roof of the coop all that time ago.

Her tough shell had been cracked and she had placed her trust in another and for the first part of their new life it had been good. They had lived in a healthy environment doing things that regular fowl would have never had the opportunity to do. There were a lot more cocks around and certain hens weren't afraid to share their partner.

Rocky had been loyal though. Somehow Ginger proved a hen that was unmatched by all others. He had protected her and it was because of his protection that she had seen him gobbled up by an animal and there had been nothing for her to do about it. There wasn't a way of getting out of an oven or clogging a pipe or even flying out of the sky in a makeshift aircraft.

It had been a nest, her eggs, her mate, and a fox.

Somehow he had only gotten one of them, which everyone had told Ginger was a miracle but she didn't feel the same way. She had gone from one physical entrapment to an emotional one. There was a strike of lightning across the sky mixed with the rumble of thunder and Ginger could hear her eggs starting to crack open. She would weather the storms in both the outside world and in her heart but her mind was continually going back to the same wish.

If only Rocky, the Rhode Island Red, was here.

**End of Chapter 0**

**Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated **


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two **

Well, this was a new experience.

It had been a pretty scary encounter seeing that fox. No, it had scared the life out of Rocky as he had met the fox who was craving Ginger, himself, and their eggs. He had been a selfish cock before. He had tried to gain things for his own satisfaction but when he had fallen for Ginger that had all changed. Suddenly, he had a reason for wanting to live and a reason for life itself. He smiled weakly as he hoped that when the fox had run off, there was still Ginger there to take care of their eggs.

He loved her. Somehow, he loved her more than he ever thought a cock was capable of loving a hen. He had felt that the girls were attracted to him but Ginger had a real way of ruffling up his feathers. As he sat in the box that the man with the fox had stuffed him into, he realized that he would most likely never see Ginger again. He would never be able to meet his offspring.

He couldn't see a sign of escape but maybe if they kept him alive until morning, he would be able to think of something. Sure, he wasn't the most hardworking bird but he was creative and crafty and he could think of something to do. He just didn't want to see one of those other males conquer Ginger. She had a loyalty to him that others called rare and he wanted to prove his loyalty to her.

Rocky stared up at the stars in the sky, "Sleep well, Ginger," he whispered before pushing his back to the side of the cage. In this world where humans reigned supreme, you could never really trust that anything you did mattered in the end. He hoped Ginger didn't think of him that way. He hoped that the chicks didn't think of him that way.

He started to doze off but as the cage was tossed inside a vehicle, Rocky felt his head hit something and he fell asleep much more quickly that before. "Ginger," he whispered, the most important word to him.

…

…

If the chicks were hatching then nothing could be done to prevent it. Once it happened, it had to take its natural course but Ginger still worried. The healthiest of all the chicks to be born were born on warm sunny days with the sun shining above them. Yes, there were many partners who abandoned the chicks and the hen they had provided life to the eggs of but Rocky hadn't been like that. If he was still alive, he would be there with them with that excited yet slightly dopey grin on his face.

Still. He wasn't here. Ginger had always been strong on her own but she knew that she would have been a lot stronger if he had his wing in hers and their feathers were touching. As Ginger looked out into the rain, she could swear that she could see his ghost and hear his voice encouraging her but it was just her imagination. Their love story was much different than the others. It was that much more painful though now that it was lost.

Ginger could hear the chirping of the first baby and looked at it, removing the parts of the egg shell that were still covering his head. She gently pressed her beak to the baby and heard another crackling. She shivered as the wind blew against her and she felt something similar to a wing on her back. She turned before imagining Rocky there.

"You've got this doll face," he winked to her and she smiled. As long as she carried his memory, she wouldn't be aloe anymore. She knew how charming he was, how loyal and amazing he was. She heard more chirping and wrapped her wing around the tiny babies as they hatched.

She would always tell them stories about their father. She would talk to them about how brave he was, how funny and charming he was, and how much he would have wanted to be there for them and with them. She would never forget Rocky and she just wanted for him to be a hero to their babies. "Thank you, Rocky," she whispered as she looked over to where she had just imagined him. He gave her so much in life that she was afraid to ask for. She had to continue for his sake.

….

….

When Rocky awoke he found himself to be surrounded by different chickens and looked at them. He didn't recognize any of these faces. He didn't remember any of them. Well, he didn't remember himself as well. Everything seemed new and different and stripy. Stripy? Rocky paused and looked around. No, no, it was the tent that was stripy. He remembered a cannon. A cannon and a stripy tent.

"Oh my gosh," one of the hens said excitedly, "You're him, aren't you? You must be him."

Rocky turned to them. He blinked confused, why was everyone looking at him so expectantly? What was he doing here? Who was he? He couldn't be some kind of god, that was impossible. Still, he wasn't too sure of who he was.

"Who am I?" he asked and the hens all muttered between themselves. Rocky stretched, feeling the ache in his back. Something had happened. "I'd appreciate it if you'd let me into this conversation."

"You're Rocky Rhodes, the greatest flying rooster to ever be seen. You're the star attraction or you were, before you went missing," one of the hens said and Rocky blinked at her. What were they talking about? Star attraction? Was that why they were looking to him as if he was some kind of idol? Was he a performer?

"Don't you remember," one of the other girls fluttered excitedly. "You rode your bike, got shot out of a cannon. You were born to perform."

"Well, you're also quite a ladies man," the third chicken said as she batted her eyes at him in an attempt to flirt. Rocky paused, watching them. He didn't remember any of this. It was as if he was experiencing life as a chick. His memory wasn't cooperating.

"I doubt that," Rocky told her, "not the performer part…I guess that's possible but being a rooster around the coop, no, I don't -I don't think so."

"Wow, you really have lost your memory," the first hen said and Rocky turned to her confused. It was obvious, wasn't it? However, he wasn't sure who these females were. He felt shy and awkward around them, not someone who could really be casual around girls.

Rocky looked around before remembering a word that had to have _some_ importance in his life but he didn't know what. He didn't even know what it meant and why he wanted it so much. "Ginger…" he said and one of the hens went over to some food that had been left for them.

"You've got a good nose," she said as she offered him some feed with a distinct smell to it. "He keeps our feed next to the ginger but I like it, gives it something a little extra," she said and Rocky sifted through the feed with his wing. He felt a slight twinge in his other wing and looked at it. Had he hurt it somehow? Maybe when he was in the cannon that they were talking about? He moved it. It seemed as if it had healed but the pain also felt so real.

"Are you okay?" one of the other hens asked with a tilt of her head.

"Ye-Yeah," Rocky nodded slowly as he pecked up some of the seed, staring at the three chickens who were watching him with anticipation. He wasn't sure what they were expecting from him. "Thanks…" he said before trying to think. The smell wasn't bringing back any kind of memory to him. Ginger, it was a food, right? He just needed to taste it. Maybe it was his favorite food. That would make him one of a kind and he definitely felt that way.

He was a one of a kind rooster.

"Once you get your bearings, we'd love to invite you over to our cage," the second chicken said and Rocky turned to them, he nodded slowly before sitting and letting his feathers touch the feed. He felt completely lost and alone and the only thing he could think of was ginger. There was something that he had forgotten about ginger.

**End of Chapter Two**

**Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated **

**Thank you to ImagineRay for reviewing Chapter One**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

It was as if the rest of the days between the laying and the hatching were a blur to Ginger. She couldn't move and there wasn't the rooster there to protect her. Yes, sometimes Rocky had seemed like a coward but he had provided her with a source of comfort and stability. Ginger sighed as she bowed her head, feeling the wind blowing back on her. She kept believing that she was seeing his ghost but then nothing would come.

Was this how it felt to be completely heartbroken? She wasn't very fond of this emotion but she understood that it was better to have loved and lost and to cling to those memories of Rocky's wings around her protectively, his soft breath on the back of her feathers, his beak tapping against hers. Those were thoughts that would help her continue forwards.

She heard a tapping and looked down to hear a cracking of the eggs. Her eyes widened as she saw a hairline crack appear in one of the eggs. This was her first chick. It was a shame that Rocky wasn't here to see his first offspring hatch but hopefully there would be parts of this chick which were their fathers.

"Come on, little one," she said as she put her wing tips around the egg. "You can do it."

"I'll say that they should be able to do it," a loud voice seemed to come out of nowhere and Ginger paused. She looked up for a moment and was stunned to see Bunty there before her. "That's what good breeding is. They have to be tough like their mother."

"You mean brave like their father," Ginger tried to argue back as she heard one of the other eggs start to hatch. There would be five in total.

"Uh…sure, right, right" Bunty nodded slowly as she rolled her eyes to the side. Ginger sighed before closing her eyes.

"Rocky…I wish you were here right now," Ginger whispered and Bunty watched her. She had to feel sorry for the rebellious chicken. Ginger was confident and brave and was a born leader but that didn't mean that she couldn't be scared about things. Even Bunty who was considered a little blunt and hard headed was scared about particular terrors in the world. If Ginger needed to hold onto her longing for the birdbrained mate then Bunty couldn't stop her.

"Well, I'm here and I'm betting that if his, uh, spirit was here he'd be chuffed that his kiddos are coming," Bunty told Ginger who smiled. Ginger reached out her wing for Bunty and the larger chicken took it. Although, and maybe because of, other chickens had sought out their colony and joined it, the original group who had left the farm had a close bond between them. Scarily enough, even after living in a farm that would put them in pies, other chickens had chosen that type of a life and Ginger could only wish them luck in life. It would break her heart for any of her chicks to do that.

As the rain started to drop down on them, Ginger clutched tighter to Bunty's wing and the larger chicken put both of her wing tips around Ginger's giving her a knowing look that things would be okay. They would turn out for the best and Ginger just had to believe that.

"_You've got it dollface," the ghost of Rocky seemed to tell her from behind her and Ginger turned. It was as if she were looking at his outline. He wasn't fully formed but she could imagine him there and she had to find some comfort in imagining him to be there with her. "You have no idea the type of pride that I have that you're having our babies. I mean, that's some great combination of genes right there."_

Ginger nodded. She climbed out of her nest and with Bunty's help got rid of the remaining parts of the eggs as she looked at the chicks who were chirping. They were so innocent. They were hers and Rocky's, they definitely looked like Rocky as she looked at them. It was going to be hard to be a mother with a broken heart but mother chickens had been taking care of their chicks alone for centuries and everyone believed in her. Ginger turned to the side where she felt the ghost of Rocky.

"_Well, look what we have here," the ghost whispered and Ginger smiled. "I think they are absolutely beautiful, each and every one of them. You agree with me, Ginger?"_

"I agree," Ginger whispered as she prepared herself for the next step of her life. She was a mother. She was going to take care of her chicks. It was a noble life to live but she still missed her mate. He was her missing part and now he would only be…missing.

…

…

Since Ginger had no other way but learning through trial and error about her chicks, she was doing just that. She had tried to remember how she had been when she was a chick but those memories were from so long ago. She couldn't remember much before the farm and that depressed her. Her chicks would be different. They would have a chance to know her.

She was returning from getting a couple of worms for the babies although she didn't want to travel far in case there were more foxes. When they grew older then she would move to another area with them but she had to wait agonizingly for that time to come. As she returned, Ginger was providing food to the young ones before a large shadow was cast over her. She spread out her wings, a jolt going through her body.

Would they at least spare her children? "I can peck and I can fight," she warned the predator.

She was greeted by Nick's and Fetcher's laughter as they put down what looked like a radio next to her. Nick shook his head as he looked to Ginger.

"Well that's a bit rough, only thought that we'd provide you with some company. Now that you mention it though, device like the one we've got 'ere, would be worth a lot for a protective device. I'm sure you put the sound of a cat or an 'awk on here and you'll get those friends running for them lives."

Nick adjusted the suit he was wearing and Fetcher raised an eyebrow before nodding.

"I don't have anything right now. I won't be able to give you anything until the babies can move. I will not give you one of my chicks," Ginger told them. She folded her wings over her breast and Fetcher laughed, shaking his head.

"Don't treat us like murderers, only trying to provide a service here," Nick said before turning to Fetcher. "Turn it on, show how it works."

"I already know how one of these works so if you're trying to trick me into something it's not going to work," Ginger commented and Nick laughed awkwardly.

"Trick?" he asked and was about to continue before they heard the news story that was currently playing – a plot device that almost always occurs in stories but never in real life.

"And so people can buy their tickets to see Rocky's return. Come down to see Rocky the Road Island Red in his spectacular return," Ginger stared at the radio. They had found an identical rooster and were using Rocky's name. No, they wouldn't be able to understand how hurtful this was but it didn't stop the longing. Maybe she could get some answers about his life before her by going there. That would be something she could share with the chicks.

**End of Chapter Three**

**Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated **

Thank you to the Guest who reviewed Chapter Two


End file.
